


my love is like a red, red rose

by practicingmypurpose



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Gen, Love Potion/Spell, Post season finale, dubious canon conformity tbh, in which Luz's obliviousness reaches epic proportion
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:27:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28415370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/practicingmypurpose/pseuds/practicingmypurpose
Summary: “Huh. So. It’s...not a rash, but it is infectious, or at least it seems to be, and it changes how people think and act...but only around me? So... Is it a spell, or a potion, maybe, that only affects witches, or...”“A love spell.” Amity states, blankly.“What?”In which Luz maybe-sorta-kinda accidentally casts an illegal love spell on her friends which spreads throughout the entire school, and Amity is the only one unaffected enough to be able to help.
Relationships: Amity Blight/Luz Noceda
Comments: 13
Kudos: 221





	my love is like a red, red rose

**Author's Note:**

> hello and welcome to my first toh fic! I've gotta admit I haven't properly written fanfic in. years. so writing this has been fun! I'm still kind of trying to get into the groove of writing for these characters but I remember seeing a shipping prompt on Tumblr YEEAARS ago about this kinda "love potion makes everyone around them fall in love w person A, but for some reason person B isn't acting any different" trope and it's played on my mind ever since. it felt perfectly adaptable to toh, so. here this is!

It’s not that Luz is _snooping,_ necessarily, but it’s not like Eda keeps the place tidy, and with the amount of time she’s spent stuck at home throughout the past week ( thank you, boiling thunderstorm!) she was bound to come across _some_ new mystery inadvertently cooked up by The Owl House. 

The book is lying flat-open when she finds it, and if it weren’t for the thick layer of dust she would’ve assumed that maybe someone – Eda, probably – was in the midst of reading it. As it is, though, she doubts anyone has even looked at this thing in months, maybe even _years_ . The dust coats the cover so heavily that she has to scrub at it with her sleeve in order to get it off. _Gross._

Disappointingly, the visibility of the cover does nothing to aid in her understanding of what the book actually _is_ _,_ and why it was lying, covered in dust, in an otherwise relatively clean and well-used – for the Owl House’ standards, at least – room. Because plastered on the cover is some kind of ancient runic language, the kind Luz has only ever seen in old-timey artefacts and the walls of the Emperor’s Castle. She shudders at the memory. 

And, okay, if it were just the runes, she for sure would just take the book straight to Eda and King. Eda’s usually pretty knowledgeable about these kinds of things. At the very least, she’d be able to tell if the book is harbouring some kind of ancient curse that they need to get rid of immediately. 

But it’s not the runes that Luz is drawn to. In the very middle of the cover, in what seems to be some sort of gold foiling, there is a large circle. And although it’s hard to make out, she’s been doing this long enough to know a glyph when she sees one. 

She traces the lines with the tip of her finger. It’s definitely not a glyph that she’s ever seen before. It’s a little more complex than her standard stuff. More curved lines and tiny shapes. 

She takes her notebook out of her pocket and flips to a fresh page. Yeah, okay, Eda (and Willow, Lilith, Gus, Amity, Pincipal Bump, etc...) has warned her not to try out spells without checking to see if they’re legit first. But if she brings it to Eda, she might just throw the book away before she gets a chance to copy it down! Even if the spell is completely unusable, she’d at least want to add it to the spellbook she’s newly in the process of writing. Plus, she’ll draw it as small as possible. Just to be safe. 

Carefully, Luz copies the glyph. It takes her a couple tries – the lines are hard enough to copy as it is, and making the glyph as small as she has makes it even more difficult to get the inner intricacies of the circle exactly correct. Hesitantly, she taps it with her pen. 

At first, it seems like nothing’s happening. Then, the glyph glows a deep red, and the edges curl in on each other, fold over and over within the page, until the inside of the circle resembles some kind of geometric flower design. A tulip, maybe? 

The circle arranges itself into a bumpy, imperfect line, edging itself closer to the middle of the glyph until it’s impossible for Luz to tell which lines are which anymore. No, not a tulip. A _rose_. 

“Cool”, she breathes, watching as the glyph dims down, finally becoming a flat squiggle. 

So, it’s not dangerous. From the looks of it, it seems to just be one of the flashy spells that beginners learn on the illusion track. She lets out a sigh of relief. Eda’s sure to let her keep the book now, and maybe with their combined efforts they’ll be able to translate whatever the runic text is trying to say. 

For now, though, she has this. A secret spell. Unlike one that she’s ever seen any of the other witches perform before. It’s all _hers._

She draws it out again, bigger this time, and squeals despite herself when it lights up the room in deep crimson. 

“Luz? What’cha doing up there?” 

At the sound of King’s voice, she quickly sketches another version of the glyph, this time deliberately not connecting the last line to save it to practice with later. King’s gonna be _so amazed_ when she shows him this. 

* * *

“Huh”, is all Eda has to say when Luz brings the book down to show her. 

Eager not to let that curb her enthusiasm, Luz leans over the counter and traces the runes with the tip of her finger. “Isn’t it cool?” 

“I guess so.” Eda shrugs. “It’s the language that the ancient ones used. You know, before the Emperor. I can’t read it, but I’m pretty sure a translation spell could help-” she twirls her finger in the air, but stops halfway through. Defeated. “Ah, shoot. I should really stop doing that.” 

Luz looks away, sheepishly. It’s been just over a month now since the events at the Emperor’s Castle, but the shock of losing her powers seemingly hasn’t gone away for Eda. Luz has been helping as much as she can, but it’s hard to teach magic to Eda when she doesn’t exactly have a huge repertoire of spells up her sleeve. She’s gathering every glyph she can find for her new spellbook - her first spellbook! - but really powerful glyphs are few and far between, and with school being cancelled throughout the storm, she can’t actually remember the last time she learned a new spell. 

Until now, at least. 

“Damn. Well, I’m sure I have a dictionary somewhere.” Eda shakes her head and goes back to flipping through the pages of the book. She’s pretty good at playing it cool, Luz must admit, but it’s hard not to notice the droop in her voice. 

“I can take a look in the library for you if you want!” Luz offers, squinting past Eda at the window to outside. The rain is a lot less heavy now, which means – hopefully – that school will be back tomorrow. She can check out the library afterwards; they’re sure to have a book that can help translate elder runes. 

“Ugh, _libraries.”_ Eda groans. “Where creative expression goes to die.” 

“I thought that was school.” Luz points out, wryly. If Eda’s making jabs about libraries, she must be feeling at least a little like her old self again. 

“Both can be true,” Eda dismisses with a wave of her hand. “But that sounds like a deal. I’m sure we’ll figure out what this ancient book is in no time.” 

Luz reaches for the book again, but Eda slaps her hand away. “Nuh-uh. This is not leaving the house under _any_ circumstances.” 

“But Eda-” Luz starts to plead, but Eda cuts her off. 

“Nope. The Emperor’s still out to get me, remember? We’ve gotta lay low as much as we can. Which means _no_ strange ancient books.” She slides the book back across the counter and swiftly places it into her hair. _Damnit!_ Luz’ll never get it back now. “Got it?” She prods. 

“Got it.” Luz replies. So much for showing off her new spell. Eda’s right – as she normally, infuriatingly, is – while she feels like she’s generally in safe hands at Hexside (well, as safe as she can be on the Boiling Isles) and she trusts that the Emperor doesn’t care enough to send his spies into the school, it would look a little suspicious if she arrived on the first day back after a week-long storm having mastered a new spell, considering her tutor is supposed to be on the run. 

It's a bit of a bummer, but hopefully by this time next week Eda will have found a way to translate the book and figure out what it all means... And then she can show the snobs in her illusions class that she’s mastered a spell that they probably haven’t even heard of. Plus, this gives her more time to practice, and fully see just what the new spell can do. 

“Are you scheming?” Eda asks, breaking Luz’s train of thought. “You look like you’re scheming. I swear to titan, Luz, if you’re planning anything-” 

“I’m not scheming, I swear!” God, why is Eda so good at reading her? If she didn’t know any better, she’d be convinced she was using some sort of mind-reading spell. “I’m just... Trying to remember whether I’ve done my plant homework.” 

Eda raises an eyebrow, but doesn’t prod any further. “Homework’s for losers. But, if school really is that important to you... Then, I’d suggest you go do it. I wouldn’t want you to fall behind.” She widens her eyes, realising what she’s said. “...Is what I _would_ tell you. If I cared.” 

Luz doesn’t even dignify that last part with a response, but makes sure to give her a quick “thanks, Eda!” as she heads up to her room. 

* * *

The rain manages to stay off for the rest of the evening, and sure enough, she gets a hologram-type message from Principal Bump just before she heads to bed for the night explaining that yes, school is back on tomorrow. The notification makes her jump about a foot into the air; she’s had Amity’s old scroll for a little over three weeks now, but she’s still trying to get used to the fact that sometimes the heads of her acquaintances will just stream themselves out of the device to talk to her. (Willow, Gus, and Amity know better than to do so now, after she had to elicit a ban towards Gus, due to his incessant messaging of any and every question he had on his mind about humans. Amity hadn’t explained how to turn the thing onto silent mode, and so Gus’s head kept popping itself out of the scroll and badgering her while she was trying to sleep. It’s safe to say that he was incredibly apologetic, and Amity swiftly demonstrated how to turn off notifications overnight.) 

Even though it’s only been a week since she’s been at Hexside, it feels much longer. Usually on weekends she still gets to see her friends, but with the boiling rain none of them had any particular desire to risk having their skin burnt off to go hang out. And while she wouldn’t say she’s been lonely or anything, hanging out with only Eda, King and Hooty for a straight week has been slightly claustrophobic. 

She feels almost like it’s her first day again, and the excitement of going back makes it difficult to fall asleep. So instead, she lies in bed for a while, mindlessly scrolling through Penstagram for a couple hours. Parties, photos of the rain, and many, many overly-posed selfies from Boscha. Boring. She navigates to her own profile. She only made it a couple days ago after the combined pressure of Willow and Gus, and besides, Instagram was never really her thing back in the human world. All she’s posted so far is her bio, which she’s pretty proud of, honestly: _‘who said humans can’t be witches?_ _🧙🏽♀️ luz, 14, bad girl coven’._ The emptiness of her profile glares at her. Maybe if she uploaded a profile picture, it wouldn’t feel so... Incomplete. She snaps a few selfies, but she looks tired in each one. Maybe that’ll be another job for tomorrow. Before tapping the scroll off for the night – it really is getting late – she hovers over the _‘upload’_ button. There’s a few photos on the scroll already, but all of them are group photos; Luz, Willow, and Gus, smiling at the camera; Willow and Gus, laughing... Except one. She forgot she’d even taken it in the excitement of finally getting her own scroll. It’s her and Amity, taken on the day that Amity got her new scroll and gifted her old one to Luz. They’re standing outside the Blight’s mansion, and Luz has her arms thrown around Amity’s neck, Amity mid-stumbling back in surprise. Luz is laughing, and Amity’s face is red – out of shock, most likely. It’s kinda blurry, thanks to the not-so-keen photography skills of Edric. It’s cute, though, and the photo makes her happy. She crops it so that they’re not as far from the camera and sets it as her profile. 

(In the morning, she blearily checks her scroll only to find that she has 5 new comments: 

> @ walkinthe_park: cute! 
> 
> @ human.fanatic8: nice! now we gotta get a photo together! 
> 
> @ ed.b.light22: why’s it so blurry? 
> 
> @ witchchick128: <3 
> 
> @ witchchick128: oops, meant : ) 

* * *

The excitement of seeing her friends again and the general chaos of Hexside means that she nearly forgets the new spell until just before the start of first period. It’s not until one of the little buds that Willow has been absentmindedly conjuring as they walk to their lockers buds into a tiny, delicate flower that she remembers, and promptly stops in her tracks. “Guys. I totally forgot.” 

“What?” Gus asks. “Oh my god, don’t tell me Eda’s been captured again?!” 

“No!” Luz shakes her head. “No, no, nothing like that. I’ve got something cool to show you guys.” She spots an empty classroom, and darts in, Willow, Gus, and Amity on her tail. She shuts the door quickly, and makes sure to lock it, just in case. “So, I was exploring the Owl House yesterday, and I found this super old, dusty book...” She excitedly explains the story to her friends, leaving out the part about Eda trying to use her now-defunct magic so as not to embarrass her. 

“...And I drew a small one, just, ya know, to make sure that it wouldn’t blow up the house or anything, but I think it’s just an illusion spell, because look...” She whips out her notebook, drawing out the glyph as quickly as she can. It takes her a little longer than she would like, mostly because of the curious stares of her friends making it hard to focus, but she finally finishes it, holds out the notebook into the middle of their huddle, and triumphantly taps it. 

Her friends gasp as the glyph starts to glow red, slowly curling in on itself until it forms to make a flat rose. It’s a little bigger than last time – now that she’s confident it won’t create any destruction – and it takes a little longer to completely finish it’s process of forming. 

“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Amity gasps. 

“Me neither,” Willow tilts her head, examining it. “You’re sure it’s illusion?” 

“It’s not like any illusion I’ve ever seen,” Gus says, furrowing his brow. “Can I see it up close?” 

“Sure!” Luz replies, but while she tries to pass it to him, her clumsiness fails her – as it too often does – and she fumbles with the notebook. In her flailing to try to catch it, it slips through her hands and scatters across the room. Amity rushes to pick it up and return it, blushing when Luz thanks her and muttering something about how it’s no big deal. Their hands briefly touch as Luz takes it, and Amity’s hand feels hot to the touch. Blushing harder, Amity yanks her hand away, tucking it into her pocket. 

The glyph is still glowing faintly, so Luz hands the notebook over to Gus, carefully this time. He gently moves his finger across the shape. “It’s kinda warm,” he comments. 

“Let me see,” Willow says. Gus passes it to her, and they study it together. “It looks kinda like plant magic, but it’s not animated enough. Like, it doesn’t seem real.” 

Gus nods his head, agreeing. “Where did you find this again? Maybe it’s some kind of combo-plant-illusion glyph from the Savage Ages. Mixing magic was normal back then, and it would make sense for the book to be super old.” 

“Savage Ages?” Luz exclaims, tracing the edge of the glyph. “Wow! That’s amazing, Eda’s gonna be so impressed!” 

“This is so exciting!” Gus adds. “No one can use Savage magic anymore, witches’ bile sacks no longer process it. Luz, this means...” 

“...You could be the only witch other than Emperor Belos to have access to elder magic.” Willow gasps. “This is amazing!” 

“Oh, I can’t wait to tell Eda, she’s gonna be so proud! This’ll definitely cheer her up after-” 

“Um, guys? Not to burst your collective bubble or anything, but Savage magic is banned in the Boiling Isles.” Amity interrupts, tentatively. “And...” She meets Luz’s eyes. “It’s incredibly dangerous. The Emperor made the Covens for a reason. This kind of magic is... It’s unpredictable.” 

Willow and Gus let go of the glyph, leaving Luz to hold it. Amity gingerly takes hold of it and hovers her hand above it. “It doesn’t feel like normal magic. Even if it isn’t from the Savage Ages, I have an... Uneasy feeling about this.” She meets Luz’s eyes again, and any annoyance Luz has towards her for dampening their fun melts away in the concern of her gaze. “I wouldn’t want you to get hurt.” 

Gus clears his throat, and Amity immediately breaks eye contact. “I m-mean, for any of us to get hurt!” 

Luz sighs. The most annoying thing by far about Amity – never mind her tendency to be kind of a buzzkill at times – is the fact that she’s usually right. Except lately it doesn’t irritate her quite as much when she has to admit this fact to her. “Amity’s right. I know I probably should’ve waited until Eda translates the book to find out what kind of magic it is before I tried it out, but I got so excited!” She slips the notebook back into her pocket, squeezing out the dying red glow. 

“I guess,” Gus concedes, “but you’ll let us know as soon as you figure out what it is, right?” 

“Of course!” Luz replies. 

The bell goes off, signaling the start of first period. Students start to mill into the classroom, chatting about the potions lesson that is soon to begin. 

“We better go,” Willow says, gesturing towards the door. The others agree, and weave between the hoard of students into the hallway. 

Willow and Gus are heading to the South wing of the school, and they wave before heading into the crowd. Just before Luz can say her goodbyes, Amity points at them. “What’s that on their hands?” 

Luz scans the crowd and spots them talking animatedly to each other. Sure enough, there’s a red tinge on each of their fingers. “What the...” She starts, looking down at her own hands. They’re clear. She checks Amity’s too – but hers have the red taint to them as well, like they’ve been dipped into watercolour paint. 

Amity notices her staring, and brings her hands up to her face. She rubs them together, trying to get the stain off, but nothing happens. 

“Maybe one of the potions ingredients left a stain on the door or something?” Luz offers, unhelpfully. 

“Maybe.” Amity draws a circle in the air. The stain twinkles a little, but Luz can tell that whatever cleaning spell Amity was attempting hasn’t worked. The red remains. “Yeah. It’s probably that. Potions was never my strong suit, I could never get the ingredient stains out.” She sighs. “My parents are gonna kill me if this isn’t gone by the time I get home.” 

“Hey, I’m sure it’ll be okay. Maybe Gus or Willow will figure out a way to get it out.” Luz considers the dilemma. “And if not, there’s always good old-fashioned soap and water.” 

“Yeah,” Amity’s brow furrows a little bit less; her shoulders relax a little bit more. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m sure it’ll be okay.” She straightens up. “Well, I better get to class before I’m late.” 

“Of course. See ya!” Luz shoots her some finger guns, which Amity confusedly tries to mimic before ushering away into the crowd. Luz studies her hands. Still no red. “Well,” she mutters, “today must be my lucky day.” 

* * *

It turns out that today is _definitely_ Luz’s lucky day. 

Because everyone seems to be so weirdly _nice_ to her. 

Her first class, Oracles, is normal – but then, she doesn’t get along with many people in her oracles class. (It’s hard trying to befriend people who can immediately tell your entire past, present, and future with a simple glance. What is there to talk about? They already know everything about you!) But she has her first strange encounter of the day in the hall while she’s walking to her double-period Construction class. 

Not for the first time in Hexside, she feels like she’s being watched, but every time she glances around her, students will deliberately look away. She reckons that it’s probably just Boscha’s doing, and continues walking to Construction, hoping that whatever rumour she’s spread about Luz will die out within a day or two. They usually do. 

Honestly, she doesn’t even consider that anything might be amiss until an upperclassman – tall, purple-skinned with dark hair from the Illusions track – that she’s never met before stops her in the middle of the hallway and asks if she needs help carrying her books. 

Some of the students walking past glare at him, and Luz could swear she hears another student say something like _“ugh, not fair, I was_ _gonna_ _ask her!”_

Suspicious, she looks around. The surrounding people avert their gazes and carry on walking. “Did Boscha put you up to this?” She asks. 

“What? N-No! I just, I don’t know, I thought...” He shuffles his feet. “I just wanted to help? That’s a lot of books, and I don’t know if you can tell, but I'm kinda strong.” He puffs out his chest. 

Well, he _does_ look pretty strong. “Okay, but... Sorry, who are you? I don’t think we’ve met before.” 

“We haven’t!” He responds, a little too quickly. “I just, I saw you walking alone, with all those heavy books, and- wow. I’ve never seen someone studying all tracks before, I guess you just caught my eye.” 

“Right.” Luz responds. It’s not that she doesn’t believe him, it’s just... Well, maybe she doesn’t believe him. She’s been attending Hexside for nearly 3 months now, and nothing like this has ever happened before. If Boscha put him up to this – which she most likely did, since Luz can think of no other reason why a beefy upperclassman who she’s never met before would offer to carry her books for her – then why? What is she trying to get out of this? 

He stands there, looking hopeful, and it almost pains Luz to turn him down. 

“I, uh, my class is just here.” She gestures to the nearest door she can see. “So, thanks, for the offer, but no thanks. I don’t need any help just now.” 

His face falls. “Oh, uh. Yeah. For sure. But maybe some other time? What was your name, again?” 

_He doesn’t even know my_ _name?_ Luz wonders. Either he’s a really good actor or maybe, just maybe... Boscha has nothing to do with this. She waivers for a second on whether or not to tell him, but finally figures that he seems nice, if a little strange, and it’s not like most people in Hexside don’t already know her as _‘that human girl’,_ so it probably wouldn’t hurt to let someone know her actual name, right? 

_“_ Luz,” she responds. 

“Luz,” he repeats. “Luz. That’s such a cool name.” 

“Uh, thanks, I guess.” 

“For a really cool girl...” 

She cuts him off there. “Uh, yeah, sorry, but I have to go now, I have a- a presentation I need to set up.” She points to the door, beginning to edge towards it. “So I’ll, uh, see you around!” 

She darts into the – thankfully empty – room and peers through the glass window, watching him shake his head, mumble something to himself, and finally walk away. She waits a moment before exiting the room and heading back into the hallway just to be safe. _What the hell was that?_

* * *

The weirdness only continues when she finally makes it to Construction. She manages to make it through the door just in time for the professor to begin the lesson, and even after the strange encounter in the hallway, puts the wide, staring eyes of her classmates down to the fact that she arrived late. The professor, unfazed, begins his lecture, discussing the ways in which wood can be used in spells. Truthfully, Construction has never held the most interest to Luz, and so she finds herself zoning out for a bit until the time comes to complete the task that they’ve been given; studying the ways in which the regular piece of wood and the magic wood interact with each other. 

Luz reaches into her bag for a pen, but realises too late that she left it in the previous class. She raises her hand to attract the attention of the professor – hopefully he won’t be too mad that she forgot to bring an extra pen to class – but he’s too focused on writing on the chalkboard to pay any attention to her. She sighs, and turns to Tiny Nose, sitting next to her. 

“Sorry, hey – do you have a pen I could borrow?” 

Tiny Nose blushes a deep crimson and takes a couple deep breaths before she turns round. “An extra pen?” 

“Yeah. I left mine in my Oracles class, I promise I’ll give it back to you once class is done, I just need...” 

“Luz? Luz Noceda? Is asking _me?_ For a _PEN?”_ Her voice reaches an uncomfortably high pitch. 

“Yeah, if that’s okay, just for the rest of class...” Luz trails off. Tiny Nose is staring at her, completely awed, chin balanced on hand. “Are you okay?” 

“Luz is asking _me_ if I’m _okay-”_

“O-kaaay, you know you don’t have to narrate _everything_ that’s happening, right?” 

“Sorry, I just can’t believe this! This is the best day of my life!” Luz notices that her hair seems to be starting to light itself on fire, and the blush on her face is spreading rapidly towards her hair. God, not another Tiny Nose blow-up. She shushes her, trying to calm her down before she draws any more attention to them. 

“Never mind,” Luz says, eager to get the situation over with as quickly as possible. “I can ask someone else.” 

“NO!” A large puff of steam escapes Tiny Nose’s ears, and at Luz’s exasperated look, quickly dissipates. “I have one. I have many! Take as many pens as you want!” She rummages through her bag, emerging triumphantly with a handful of various writing instruments. 

Luz plucks one out of her fist and attempts a weak smile. “Thanks.” 

(When class is finally over and she hands the pen back to her, Tiny Nose breathes _“I’m_ _gonna_ _keep this pen forever!”_

Luz tries not to think about it.) 

* * *

The weirdness, as expected, continues throughout the rest of the day. Random compliments from students who usually wouldn’t look at her twice. Pointing and giggling, only to promptly look away when they’re spotted. The overall feeling of being watched. _What has gotten into Hex_ _side today?_

Thankfully, she makes it to lunch without completely losing her cool. (...Although she’s probably gonna have to apologise to Barcus later after accidentally kicking him in the head while he was circling her legs, purring.) 

“Guys, you will not _believe...”_ She starts, sitting down at their regular lunch table, before she trails off. “Guys?” 

Alright, this is the last straw. 

Gus sits across from her, motionless, chin in hand, staring dreamily at her like she’s some kind of uselessly intriguing human artefact. Next to her, Willow has the same expression on her face as she beams at Luz, absentmindedly twirling her hair. 

_Oh, come_ on, she thinks, and snaps her fingers in front of their faces. The two of them immediately snap out of whatever daydream they seemed to be experiencing. “Huh?” 

“What is up with everyone today? It’s like, everywhere I go, people are treating me like I’m some sort of alien.” She grumbles, stabbing at her mystery meat with her fork. “I know I’m a human, but I thought everyone got over that, like, _ages_ ago. What is going on?” 

“That must be _so_ hard for you,” Willow sighs, patting her arm. Simultaneously, Gus exclaims, “Alien? Who said you were an alien? I’ll get them! No one says that about _my_ Luz-” 

“- _your_ Luz?” Willow interrupts. “Since when was she _your_ Luz?” 

“Wait, wha-” She’s cut off by her two friends bursting into a nonsensical argument. Confused, she watches the two like it’s a tennis match, as they go back and forth for several minutes, finally resorting to name calling and – Luz assumes – swearing in some witch slang she hasn’t had the pleasure of hearing yet. She slumps her head onto her arms, groaning. Is this some sort of weird witch fever? How long is this gonna last? 

“What in titan is going on here?” 

“Amity!” She studies her carefully as she moves to sit down – tentatively, which Luz honestly can’t blame her for – across from Luz, a sensible distance away from Gus. Nothing _seems_ particularly off about her, and if there is, it’s certainly not as overwhelmingly obvious as whatever it is that’s gotten into Gus, Willow, and the rest of the Hexside student population. 

She takes a bite of her sandwich, shrugging one shoulder towards Willow and Gus, who have descended into petty insults. “Are they okay?” 

“Thank _god_ you’re still normal.” Luz has never been so relieved to hear the lasting Willow-related dryness of her tone before. Amity Blight, at least, seems to have evaded whatever contagion is travelling through the school. 

“Normal?” Amity wrinkles her nose. “What do you mean?” 

“Everyone’s been acting so _weird_ today.” She tries to cut a piece of her mystery meat off, but swears she can see part of it try to wriggle back into place, so promptly gives up on the idea of lunch and pushes her tray to one side. “I don’t know what it is, but everyone’s been treating me strangely since this morning. Not just Willow and Gus either, I mean, Tiny Nose, Barcus,” she lists off all of the notable events on her fingers, “some guy from Illusions... Everyone’s been so nice to me all day, and I don’t know _why.”_ She considers. “Man, even _Boscha’s_ gone the whole day without making a snide comment about me. _Even_ _Boscha_ _,_ Amity!” 

Amity’s eyes widen. “Boscha? Being nice? No way.” 

“ _Yes, way.”_ Luz shakes her head, still almost unable to believe the ridiculousness of it all. “And it’s not just that, either. It feels like... Like everywhere I go, everyone’s watching me, but then when I try to figure out _why_ and catch them doing it, they just kind of giggle and go red and run away. Is it me? Am I just giving off weird vibes today?” She gasps, and gives the collar of her cloak a quick sniff just to be sure. “I don’t smell, at least I don’t think I do, so surely it can’t be that.” 

Amity snorts. “Yeah, it’s definitely not that.” Then thoughtfully adds, “you always smell really nice.” 

“Aw, thanks.” The compliment almost – but not quite – distracts her from the topic at hand. “But then what could it be?” 

“Are you sure it’s all to do with you?” Amity asks, taking another bite of her sandwich. She continues to talk with her mouth full; something that Luz would _definitely_ tease her for if it were any other time. “ Like, maybe Willow and Gus are just... Having a bad day?” Judging by her wince at the end, it doesn’t even seem like _she_ believes what she’s saying, but Luz lets her off with it. 

“It’s not just Willow and Gus, though.” She explains. “It’s everyone. Look-” She turns to the neighbouring table full of some kids in the Potions track. She’s never seen them before, and they seem like they’re probably in the year above, but she’s felt their eyes boring into the side of her face ever since she sat down and deliberately ignored it. Until now, at least. “Hey guys,” she smiles towards them. “My mystery meat was kinda too rare for my liking. Could I have a couple of your fries?” She pouts. “I’m super hungry.” 

In the blink of an eye, the girl closest to their table holds out a tray full of fries. Luz picks up a handful, places them on a napkin, and grins at them. “Thank you so much, you guys are absolute lifesavers.” 

When she turns back to her table, away from the starstruck faces of the other group, she’s met with Amity's jaw-dropped expression. Luz shrugs. “See?” 

“How do you even know those people?” 

“That’s the problem!” Luz grabs a deliciously greasy fry and pops it into her mouth. “I don’t! I’ve never met them before! But everyone’s just acting like they’re...” She chews thoughtfully. What’s the word? Impressed? Friendly? No... That’s not quite it. “I don’t know.” 

Amity hums in agreement, her eyes still trained on the other group of students. Luz can’t really tell whether she’s concentrating hard on them to try to figure out what the hell is actually going on, or if she’s glaring at them. Knowing Amity, it could be either. 

Willow and Gus appear to have come to some sort of agree-to-disagree peace treaty – finally – but they’re still being kinda quiet and awkward, so she offers them some fries. Willow gasps dramatically. “For _me?”_

_“_ Uh, yeah,” Luz shrugs, pushing the tray into the middle of the table. “I won’t be able to eat it all on my own.” 

“You’re the _best,_ Luz,” Willow throws her arms around her neck, sighing. “This is the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me.” 

“Hey-” Luz starts, about to beg to differ – it sucks that Willow gets picked on so often, but she’s about 90% sure this can’t _possibly_ be the _nicest thing anyone’s ever done for her –_ but Gus slaps the fry out of Willow’s hand before she can eat it, sending it scattering across the table, landing straight into Amity’s lap. 

“Gus!” She complains, dusting the food off. “Why would you-” 

Unfazed, Gus points a finger at Willow, leaning over the table. “You _said_ neither of us gets to make a move on Luz! That is _totally_ unfair, Willow!” 

Willow snatches her arms back from around Luz – nearly giving the other girl whiplash in the process. “Just because you’re all _jealous,_ Gus-” 

“-jealous? JEALOUS?” 

“Ooo-kay, I don’t like this,” Luz slides further away from Willow, pulling her hood up over her head. Why, oh _why_ must this be happening to her? Hasn’t she been through enough over the past few months already? She was just starting to make friends here, too, and now some mystery flu is making everyone treat her like a celebrity, which would be weird enough as it is without the added bonus of having her friends fight over her. “Seriously, what is going on?” 

“Why would Gus want to make a move on you?” Amity crumples her face is disgust. “Why would _Willow...”_ Her cheeks burn a bright red. 

Luz emerges from her hoodie, shooting Amity a look. “Gee, thanks.” She’s wondering just how mad Principal Bump would be if she skipped out on the rest of the school day and called Eda to pick her up so she could hide out for the next couple days until it all blows over when something catches her eye. “You couldn’t get it off.” 

“What?” Amity follows Luz’s gaze down to the crook between her thumb and finger. It’s not as dark crimson as it was before; it’s faded to a sort of raspberry pink colour. She scratches at it with her other hand, aimlessly. “Yeah. I tried a couple cleaning spells and used a ton of soap, but nothing’s worked.” She shakes her head. “Potions, I guess.” 

But Luz isn’t paying attention anymore, because Willow and Gus have simultaneously slammed their hands on the table, pushing themselves up out of their seats and swearing they won’t speak to each other for a week. It’s not that that Luz is concerned with, though – because right there, on the tips of their fingers, almost imperceptible, is a distinctly raspberry-coloured stain. 

Amity follows her gaze, lightly gasping when she realises what it is that she’s looking at. 

“Goodbye, Luz!” Gus and Willow storm off in opposite directions, drawing even _more_ unwelcome attention towards Luz. This time, she doesn’t care too much, though, because she thinks she’s maybe just figured it out. 

“The glyph,” she says, as Amity says, “your spell.” They make eye contact, eyes widened. 

“So, do you think that’s what’s been making Willow and Gus act so... Weirdly territorial over me?” 

“Maybe,” Amity scans the other table. When she sees what she was looking for, she places her hand over Luz’s to get her attention, jabbing her head towards the other group. Sure enough, although it’s barely noticeable: they all have the pink staining somewhere on their hands. 

“What is it? A rash?” Luz wonders aloud. “A witch rash? _Ooh,_ is it a magical ailment only spread between witches?” Okay, so _maybe_ she’s getting a little too excited over this. But she’s been wondering what’s gotten into Hexside all day! 

Amity shakes her head. “No, I don’t think so. At least, it’s not like any illness I’ve ever come across. Plus, if it really is an illness and is this serious and infectious, the Healing students would have shut the school down by now.” 

“Huh.” She’s right. The Healing students tend to notice these kinds of things. “So. It’s...not a rash, but it is infectious, or at least it seems to be, and it changes how people think and act...but only around me? So... Is it a spell, or a potion, maybe, that only affects witches, or...” 

“A love spell.” Amity states, blankly. 

“What?” 

“It must be!” She gestures around the cafeteria with her free hand, and it’s only now that Luz realises that their hands have been touching this entire time. “Think about it! It’s the only thing that makes sense! Everyone seems to have the same symptoms – the red staining, the sudden change in opinions towards you... But how could this happen? Love spells are notoriously hard to conjure, even for a real- I-I mean, biological? Witch, never mind a human. They require so much training and effort. The only witch I can think of who _might_ have the ability to cast it is the Emperor, and I highly doubt he’d put this much time into a spell just to make everyone at Hexside fall in love with you, no offence Luz, but... Luz?” 

“A love spell?” Luz repeats, taking in the rush of Amity’s words. “I didn’t know love spells even _existed_.” 

“Well, yes, of course they do, I mean, technically, witches have a spell for everything...” Amity trails off, her face falling. “Love spells have been illegal for _decades_ , though. They’re against the moral code.” 

“Illegal?” Luz manages. She feels sick suddenly, her head spinning. They barely managed to escape the Emperor and his cronies last time, and she’s meant to be laying low. If anyone found out that Luz had had an _illegal spell_ casted around her, who knows what trouble that could bring – for her and for Eda. 

Amity strokes the upside of her hand comfortingly. “Well, yes, but like I said, there’s no way anyone could possibly think that _you_ casted it, n-not like I don’t think you’re capable of magic as great as this, but a spell as powerful as this is nearly impossible for any regular witch to cast, anyways, it’s not even taught, after all, so...” She runs out of words, and happens to glance down at their hands, as if she’s confused about where her extra limb has been this whole time. It takes her a moment to realise that her hand has been clasped over Luz’s for the past few minutes, and she snatches it away, rubbing at it like it’s burned, her face flushing. “S-sorry.” 

“But your hand,” Luz says. Even if someone did cast the spell for her unknowingly, even if she doesn’t get in trouble for it. There’s still the confusing fact that Amity has the same physical symptom as all of the other students at Hexside, but seems to be immune to the whole _love_ part. 

“Y-yeah...” Amity studies the stain on her hand, holding it close to her face. “I don’t know.” Going by the fact that the skin of her cheeks seems to be the same colour as the raspberry-pink stain on her hand, she seems to be relieved by the fact that she’s managed to go completely unaffected by the spell. 

Which, Luz supposes, she should be grateful for – it's great to have an ally in this big mess of crazy – but part of her can’t help but feel a little offended, because of _course_ literally _everybody_ at Hexside had to go fall in love with her due to whatever love spell has overtaken the campus, but perpetually perfectly posed Amity Blight is the only student who’s managed to come out of it normal. She sighs. “What are we gonna do?” 

“Well...” Amity tilts her head, thinking so hard that Luz can practically see the cogs in her mind whirring. “This isn’t really my area of expertise, but I think that our best course of action is to first find out exactly what spell it was that caused this.” 

“Right,” Luz replies. “Except, how are we gonna do that? You said yourself that love spells are so rare that basically no one knows how to cast them, so how are we gonna know what kind of spell it is when we don’t even know what we’re looking for?” 

Amity groans, scrubbing her non-stained hand down her face. “I don’t know. But there has to be some sort of information out there... Maybe the school library?” 

That could be a good idea, Luz muses, but her train of thought is interrupted by the screeching of the bell. “Damn, we’ve got Boorithmacy next. Professor Decimal won’t just let us go research love spells in the library.” She sighs, defeated. “Well. I guess I can make it through the rest of the day, so long as Gus and Willow don’t end up killing each other over me.” She gathers up her cloak and books, grabbing one last fry for the road. 

“Wait,” Amity says. “How do you feel about skipping class?” 

Now _this_ has her intrigued. She immediately sits back down, clasps her hands together, and rests her head atop them, smirking. “Amity Blight? Skipping class?” 

Amity rolls her eyes. “Shut up. Of course, normally I would never suggest such a thing, but come on, Luz, I think dismantling a potentially illegal love spell is a little more important than learning the ins and outs of _ahh-_ gebra. Anyways, you and I both know we’re the smartest people in that class.” 

Luz nods. She has a point. Oddly, for all their magic and general intelligence, for some reason witches seem to be exponentially behind their human counterparts when it comes to math. Luz was barely pulling C’s back in the human realm, but since having gone back to the equivalent of elementary school algebra, she’s been excelling in the Hexside version. “True. Alright, Blight. I’ll do it." A sudden, but not unwelcome, realisation hits her, and she barely contains her squeal. “Wait, oh my god, is this the first time you’ve ever proposed skipping class? The first time you’ve actually _rebelled against school?”_ She teases, only half heartedly. 

Amity flushes deep red, scowling, although Luz feels like she knows her well enough by now to be able to spot the non-threatening smile tucking into the corners of her mouth. “Can we just go now, before I change my mind?” 

“Well well, Amity, it would be my honour to accompany you on your very first bunk-off period.” Luz bows over-exaggeratedly, taking her hand. She knows she’s pushing her luck with how far she can get away with teasing her before Amity hits her – or worse, leaves for class and decides not to help her after all – but hey, she feels like after the craziness of the day, she deserves to have a little fun. 

Amity, at least, is a pretty good sport about it, and takes her hand, even if she seems so annoyed that she can’t fully look her in the eye. It’s fair payment, Luz supposes, to the teasing. 

She pulls Amity up out of her seat by the hand – and it’s maybe just a tad too forceful, because Amity sorta gets yanked off her feet and ends up careening directly into Luz’s chest, making her burst into laughter. “Sorry, sorry,” she manages between giggles, “I didn’t think I’d pulled you up that hard. God, sometimes I forget how much muscle I’ve put on since working around the Owl House so much.” 

“Ha. Yeah. Muscle.” Amity responds robotically. She softens into Luz momentarily while she regains her balance before quickly snapping herself away as though she’s been burned. “Right. Um. Library. Yes. Let’s go!” She takes off in the direction of the destination, only looking back to check whether Luz is following her when she’s already a good few feet away.

Luz can only laugh. She’s glad to have her throughout all of this. Maybe there are upsides to Amity seemingly being the only witch in the entire school immune to falling in love with Luz Noceda.

**Author's Note:**

> so ngl I was hoping to just make this a short-ish one-shot lmao but it's kind of gotten away from me. sooo the next/final chapter will be up soon!


End file.
